AQA English Language Paper 2 question 4 is a 16 mark question assessing A03:
‘Compare writers’ ideas and perspectives, as well as how these are conveyed, across
two or more texts’
As the assessment objective suggests, this question is a comparison question, requiring
you to compare how the writers of sources A and B convey their ideas and perspectives
on a certain topic.
Let’s look at a sample question, taken from Mr Bruff’s Guide to GCSE English Language,
available in paperback on Amazon or eBook at mrbruff.com.
Refer to source A and source B, the letter from Edgar Thompson to Mr Woolark. Compare
how the writers convey their different attitudes to education.
In your answer, you should:
- Compare the different attitudes - Compare the methods used to show these attitudes
- Support your ideas with quotations from the text. [16 marks]
Now let me just point out, that although my example here is a comparison of different
ideas and perspectives, the exam paper could ask you to compare similar ideas and perspectives
towards a topic too.
This is a 16 mark question, so you should spend around 20 minutes on it.
There are really two distinct parts to this question: 1) students have to demonstrate
an understanding of ideas and attitudes in both texts, comparing those ideas and attitudes,
and number 2) students have to compare the methods used to show these attitudes. It’s
this second bullet point, and what is meant by the term ‘methods’ that many students
struggle with.
Given that this question is not assessing a02: use of language and structure, the possible
confusion is ‘well, which methods can I actually write about?’
Well the good news is I’ve looked through the past mark schemes and you can write about
pretty much anything:
Imperative verbs Emotive Language
Frivolous tone Juxtaposition
Irony Structural viewpoint
Repetition Alliteration
Humorous imagery Metaphor
Simile Symbolism
Structural opening Structural ending
Narrative perspective superlatives
Hyperbole
And that’s just the things that have come up in the papers we’ve had so far. So essentially
what this question is saying is this: if that method is used to present the idea or perspective
you’re writing about, then you can write about it in your answer.
Let me point out one simple mistake to avoid: This question is explicitly about the attitudes
of the writers. You need to be very careful to make sure you are analysing the attitudes
of the writers, and not the viewpoints of characters presented in the text. For example,
in source A our writer is Liam Murphy. So you’re looking at HIS attitude to education-
even though the article is an interview with Andrew Bruff, you’ve got to pick out the
writer’s attitude, not that of someone who appears in the text. You can prepare for this
by reading non fiction texts which include more than one point of view, and trying to
pick out the point of view of the writer and the methods used to present it.
So what are the writer’s attitudes to education in the sources? Well, I think we could definitely
pick out the following:
1. 1. The relaxed, informal attitude to education of Liam Murphy, compared to the formal, strict
approach of Edgar Thompson.
Identifying those ideas and perspectives across both texts, and seeing a contrast between
the two writers, is really addressing that first bullet point in the question. To address
the second bullet point, we need to look at the methods used to present those attitudes.
And I think it’s quite clear that the use of humour from Murphy, with his joke about
being a brain surgeon, highlight his informal attitude to education. For Thompson, we have
a very serious tone, seen throughout the text in numerous examples such as the line 'Of
course, we fully believe in creating a rounded child’
So as you can see, not only am I looking for evidence of the writers’ viewpoints or perspectives,
I’m looking to identify the methods they use to present those viewpoints.
One simple way to look at this question is like this:
Step 1: What ARE the attitudes? Step 2:What methods are used to present those
attitudes? Step 3: Analyse WHY those methods are used.
Let’s look at a sample paragraph:
Both writers have different attitudes to education. Murphy writes in an informal tone that matches
his more modern and relaxed attitude to education. He states, 'I'm inclined to agree with the
bloke', which seems almost out of place, particularly considering that the form of the text is a
public article. The use of language is deliberately informal, and this enforces the ideas presented
in the article that we should be less restrictive with children and let them manage their own
learning. However, Thompson's attitude is completely different. The formal tone seen
in such lines as 'Of course, we fully believe in creating a rounded child' shows that he
sees education as purely a formal experience. We sense that there is no personal or informal
element to his letter because he does not believe that personal feelings are appropriate
in an educational sphere.